I spoke too soon yesterday about being glad I didn’t have to chop ice. Figures. I went out this morning and there were empty heated water bowls in the peafowl pen and poultry pens. That meant I either had to carry water out from the house, which is a fair distance, or chop the ice off the top of the unheated water buckets so I could pour water out of them into the heated buckets. Follow that?

I chose the latter, and whew! That’s tiring work. The good news is I had enough water to fill the bowls back up. The bad news is, if it’s still this cold tomorrow, I’ll have no choice but to carry water from the house to the distant water bowls.

While I’m chopping through ice to fill water bowls for the domestic fowl, some of their wild cousins are trying out for the Polar Bear Club, and splashing around in the birdbath.

Even though this birdbath has a heater to keep the water from freezing, it’s not THAT warm, and the air is FRIGID. Personally, I think they’re birdbrains to be playing in the water when it’s this cold.

I figured I was providing drinking water during the cold weather months for the birds, but never imagined I’d be providing a heated spa!

We're living the country life and hobby farming in the southeastern U.S. We've become a bit of a retirement home, with one ewe sheep, a female goat, and a pet llama that are getting "up there" in years.

We also have chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl. To keep all the other critters safe, there's a Maremma sheepdog here as well!

I love to take pictures so there are lots of images to go with the stories! Not just of the farm critters, but wildlife and nature shots too. Plus some pictures from far afield now and then, when we do a tad of traveling. So sit down and visit a spell!